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On Teamwork

The most successful teams contain a workable mix of vision and seasoned, successful experience.

After leading many teams, studying countless legendary teams, players, consultants, coaches, and leaders here are my simple steps to great teams!

Teams must develop common principles, building trust, positive attitude, work ethic, consideration, and appreciation.

Vision - teams need to collectively know what they want and visualize success. Ultimate power can be achieved by putting clarity into action. Individual vision comes after combined vision.

Preparation - love what you do, practice with a purpose, strive for perfection, find the confidence within.

Fail - teams can take chances, fail fast, and move on. We must learn quickly from mistakes and embrace collective feedback.

The best idea wins! Sometimes it's the leader and sometimes a new team member who comes up with solid ideas that are the best solutions to a problem and use strategies central to the team's goals.

Giving constructive feedback requires focusing on ideas and behaviors, instead of individuals, being as positive as possible, and offering suggestions for improvement. Receiving feedback requires listening well, asking for clarification if the comment is unclear, and being open to change and other ideas.

The team should develop a guide or already know how to plan and manage a task, how to manage their time, and how to run a meeting. For example, they ensure that meeting goals are set, that an agenda is created and followed, and that everyone has an opportunity to participate. They stay focused on the task and help others to do so too.

Team members know which roles can be filled within a team (e.g., running back, quarterback, facilitator, idea-generator, summarizer, evaluator, mediator, encourager, recorder) and are aware of which role(s) they and others are best suited for. They are also willing to rotate roles to maximize their own experience.

Welcome pressure because it can bring out the best in each member of the team. Cultivate the right attitude, lead by example, and build trust and consideration for one another. Perform in the moment. Develop appreciation.

Walk like champions. Leave the talk behind, walk around like a champion with great spirit.

There are so many benefits of teamwork:

1. Teamwork increases efficiency:

Every individual has specialties, and collaboration allows each person to focus on what he or she does best. Although teams often need time to establish their working relationships before they reap the benefits, any group that perseveres through the early stages and finds a healthy team rhythm will achieve increased efficiency and productivity.

2. Teamwork improves performance:

When you’re able to focus on what you do best and don’t have to deal with tasks that are beyond your skills or capabilities, you produce higher-quality work.

3. Teamwork builds competency:

Although collaboration does enable team members to focus on their core competencies, it can also be broadly instructive. In collaborating with others, you inevitably learn more about what they do, and you gain a broader understanding of the system you’re a part of.

4. Teamwork builds trust:

Every strong team needs a solid foundation of trust, otherwise, morale can suffer. A strong team cultivates trust from top to bottom, maintains open lines of communication between all team members, and operates with transparency.

5. Teamwork reduces stress:

Trying to do everything yourself can have negative consequences on your productivity, not to mention your mental and physical health. Most of us can endure some pressure over short periods of time, but it’s nice to have teammates who can take some of the load off when things get too intense. This prevents burnout and helps you get much-needed time to unwind.

6. Teamwork lets management focus on the big picture:

An organization can’t have success if its leaders are forced to spend hours daily dealing with inconsequential administrative or operational matters. Having a solid team to handle these tasks allows a manager to guide the overall trajectory of the organization without getting lost in the details.

7. Teamwork leads to innovation:

We like to think that innovative ideas come in flashes of brilliance, but more often innovation comes from years of hard effort by a group of people rather than an individual. Most lasting innovations have multiple stages, starting with the creative process and moving through the development, refinement, execution, and revision phases. Over the course of this project, there is room for input from many different individuals.

8. Teamwork impresses:

On a more personal level, setting aside selfishness is a smart way to invest in your future. Teamwork is one of the top criteria that hiring managers consider, and having a reputation for strong teamwork skills can earn you jobs and promotions.

9. Teamwork improves service:

In any successful organization a strong team spirit comes across in interactions with its customers or supporters. When there is a sense of positive collaboration, every individual in the company will have a positive attitude and a strong sense of advocacy in favor of the company, and this will make them want to represent the company in a positive way.

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